Pinky Promise
by tinybabyleafs
Summary: He was annoying sometimes; all little brothers were. That didn't mean she didn't love him. And that didn't mean she wouldn't save him. One-shot.


**This one was a WIP for a pretty long time. I've always loved May and Max so much. Since I have sisters and our relationship is very important to me, I've always adored May and Max's sibling bond, so this was definitely fun to write.**

 **Let me know what you think!**

* * *

"Come on! It's not that cold outside!"

"It's _snowing_ , Max."

"So? If you put on your coat, you'll be fine."

Eight-year-old May Maple wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. It had never snowed before in Hoenn, so before their Christmas vacation to Sinnoh, she'd never seen the stuff before.

"Mommy, why's the rain all white and flaky?" she had asked with a nervous frown as she peered uncertainly out the window that morning. In response, her mother had only chuckled.

"That's snow, sweetheart. It's frozen rain."

Her response only further horrified May. Frozen rain? That was awful! Why would the rain freeze? She liked it just fine as a liquid, thank you very much!

Over the past several hours, May's opinion had not changed one bit. "I'm not going out in that," May said stubbornly, drawing her arms closer around herself. "You have fun on your own, Max."

Her five-year-old brother pouted. "Fine. I'll go off _by myself_ and sled. You're gonna miss _all the fun_."

"You do that," the brunette muttered, walking away to sit by the window. She settled herself down on the window-seat and drew her knees close to her chest as she gazed out with half-lidded blue eyes. The vacation house was nice. It was big and... what had her mother said? _Spacious_. And there was a great view, too. May yawned. It was nice and toasty inside, with a fire blazing in the next room, and she was beginning to feel sleepy.

"Tired, honey?" her mother asked, and a pair of gentle hands stroked May's hair from behind.

"No, Mommy," May murmured, yawning again. "Well, maybe..."

"Are you sure you don't want to go outside and play?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, your father's making hot chocolate, but I think he's having trouble. Why don't you come help?"

May brightened at the thought of hot chocolate, and she nodded, following her mother into the kitchen. Hot chocolate! Even if it was snowing outside, the day couldn't be a bad one if she got to have hot chocolate. May grinned. Maybe she would like this vacation after all.

* * *

The hot chocolate turned out to be a success... well, sort of, depending on what you mean by the word. They _did_ finally end up with hot chocolate, after several mishaps, and everybody had a cup or two, or in May's case, three. They also ended up with a badly burnt spoon, flour everywhere, several bottles' worth of spices spilled on the floor, and several chocolate-covered counters.

The chocolate-covered counters just came from May being clumsy. The spices were all her father's idea, and when her mother had tried to stop him from pouring an entire container of cayenne pepper into the hot chocolate mix, he fell over backwards and knocked every bottle down.

The burnt metal spoon was her father's mistake, again. Apparently he didn't know that metal was _not_ supposed to go in microwaves, and when it caught fire, her mother had screamed and dumped a bag of flour on it.

Well, it put out the fire, at least. Even though, after a long bath, May was _sure_ there was still flour in her hair.

"Bedtime, you two," May's father now announced. "You'll need your sleep, because we have an exciting day tomorrow! We're going skiing!"

"Yay!" Max shouted, but May made a face. She didn't want to go out in the snow at all.

"Hey, May, I almost forgot!" Max said excitedly as they went upstairs to brush their teeth. "I met a Pokemon today! It was a little squirrel and it had electricity! I can't wait to go see it again. One of the boys next door said we could go out and find it tonight. We played lots and lots..."

May tuned out her little brother's rambling as she brushed her teeth and climbed into bed. "We gotta go to bed, Max," she finally interrupted. "But that sounds cool. Maybe I could meet the Pokemon tomorrow..." She didn't like Pokemon very much, but this one sounded kind of cute.

"Oh, yeah!" Max cried ecstatically. "You'll love it, May. I'll show you right away tomorrow." He paused. "You'll actually come see it, right? Pinky promise?"

May hesitated, then nodded, leaning forward to link her pinky with his. Max grinned. "All right! Good night, May!"

"Night," May called back sleepily as her brother hurried into his own bedroom. "Love you, Max."

She yawned, fell back onto her pillow, and was fast asleep in seconds.

* * *

May awoke to the sound of the front door creaking shut.

She wasn't sure what time it was and she frankly didn't care; all she knew was that it was dark outside and that meant she should be asleep. It took her several moments to process the sound she had heard.

Once she did process it, she was less interested in sleeping.

May sat up quickly. Her heart beat a little faster as her imagination went into overdrive. What if it was a robber? A kidnapper? No - there was no way a person could make it through the crazy snowstorm that had picked up overnight. The wind screamed louder outside May's window as she thought up every possibility. A wild Pokemon? Those were _scary_.

 _They could hurt me_ , May thought with a shudder. _They hurt me before..._

May slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hall toward her parents' room, hugging herself in fear. As she passed by her brother's room, she noticed the door was ajar. Frowning, May peeked inside.

"Max?" she whispered. Then, a little louder, "Max? Are you there?"

She pushed the door open further. Light spilled into the room, unveiling Max's empty bed. May gasped. What if a scary wild Pokemon had come in the house and eaten him?

"He's probably just in the bathroom," she told herself. "Or getting a drink of water from the kitchen."

She checked. Max was nowhere to be found. Then, suddenly, something May had heard him say earlier came back to her, and horror dawned on her.

 _"One of the boys next door said we could go out and find it again tonight..."_

May battled a wave of panic. Why hadn't she paid attention to what he was saying? The sound of the door hadn't been a robber or a Pokemon; it had been her brother, and he could die out there! May's first instinct was to run and tell her parents, but she stopped herself.

Maybe she shouldn't wake them.

What if he hadn't gotten very far yet? She had only just heard him leave. May could go out, find Max, and bring him back. They could get back into bed and everything would be fine... Fighting to stay calm, May quickly put on her coat and boots, wrapped a blanket around herself, and rushed out into the storm.

* * *

For the second time that night, Norman heard the front door opening and closing. The first time, he had brushed it off as his imagination. The second time, however, his concern outweighed his doubt.

"Caroline...? Did you hear that?"

"Hm?"

"I thought I heard the front door. I'll go take a look."

Caroline's face betrayed her worry. "I'll check on the kids."

* * *

May battled the blizzard as she trudged through the snow. It was piled as high as her waist, making walking almost impossible. Wind roared in her ears, blasting her with a constant barrage of ice and snow.

"Max!" she yelled, though her voice was lost to the wind. "MAX!"

She couldn't see more than an arm's length in front of her, and when she turned to look back, her blood ran cold. She couldn't see back to the house, and her footsteps had already been covered by more snow.

May was utterly lost.

"I have to keep looking for him," she muttered to herself. "If I can't go back, then I have to find Max!"

And so she pushed on, persistently yelling his name, though she knew there was no way he could hear. She wondered if he was calling her name somewhere, scared and cold and alone.

Finally, after what felt like hours but might have been only minutes, she tripped over a small dark bundle lying in the snow: a bundle that looked remarkably like her five-year-old brother.

"Max!" May screamed, pulling him out of the snow. His face was red, and his fingers were stiff. May hugged him close, and he responded sluggishly.

"M-May..."

"It's okay, Max, I've got you," she cried. Tears spilled out of her eyes, freezing onto her face. "It's okay... I promise, I promise you'll be okay..." Hardly aware of what she was doing, May wrapped her pinky around his, promising herself as much as she was promising him. "We'll both be okay."

She wasn't even sure he heard her, but it didn't matter. May pulled off her coat and wrapped it around his tiny, shivering form, then bundled him up in the blanket. Now she was dressed only in her pajamas. The wind slapped her skin, and the snow stung on her bare arms and face. It felt like the cold was seeping slowly into her, absorbing itself into her body. She started to feel like she'd never be warm again.

And she knew that if they didn't find their way home, neither of them ever _would_ be.

May struggled to carry Max through the snow, but she could hardly move. Her legs were made of lead, and the snow was a brick wall in front of her. Max started to cry for Mommy and Daddy.

And then she saw a light.

 _Home_ , was her first thought. But it wasn't the same light that had lit the windows of their house. This light twinkled and shimmered and danced around, and May began to wonder if she was dying and this was the light she was supposed to go towards.

The light drew nearer. May tried to back away, but ended up stumbling and falling back onto the snow. She was far too weak to get back up, but at least she knew she wasn't dead yet. She was pretty sure ghosts couldn't stumble on things.

The light came closer and closer, and then suddenly it wasn't just a light, it was a tiny electric squirrel, squeaking frantically and sparking like crazy.

"Chi-pa, chi-pa!" The squirrel bounced around, shaking May and Max in turn, trying to get them to stand, but neither had the strength. May wondered how the Pokemon was so unbothered by the cold.

May lifted her stiff arm and reached out to touch it, but before she could, the Pokemon turned and darted back into the distance.

May hugged Max close, trying her best to keep him warm, though she knew her efforts were useless. She really was going to die out here.

At least she wasn't alone, she thought as she held her brother tighter. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks and freeze onto her face.

"Max," she whispered through her tears. "Max..."

"M-May?" the little boy stuttered.

"I love you."

For a moment, May thought she heard voices in the distance. And then there was nothing.

* * *

"Mom, when is May going to wake up?"

* * *

"Why is it taking so long?"

* * *

"Dad? Is she going to die?"

* * *

May heard bits and pieces, every now and then. She couldn't make sense of them, but she could hear them. She wasn't always sure she recognized the voices, except for one - Max's.

Whenever she came close enough to consciousness that she could hear things, she thought of one thing and one thing only. Max. She had to save Max. She didn't usually know why she needed to save him, or even who he was, but she knew she loved him. And she always knew his voice.

Once, May felt someone's hand in hers. She heard Max's voice talking to her. The hand gave a gentle squeeze.

"You promised, May. You pinky promised you'd be okay."

The hand gave a gentle squeeze.

"You have to be okay..."

And then, almost involuntarily, May squeezed back.

She heard Max gasp, then start to yell. She heard people crying and voices calling her name.

Not once did Max let go of her hand.

May's heart started to pound. She _remembered_. She _knew_.

And then she opened her eyes, and she _saw_.

* * *

It took many long weeks for her to fully recover. Apparently, she had been comatose for over a month. Max had only been unconscious for a few hours, and he'd stayed in the hospital for maybe a week, thanks to what May had done to protect him. But as for May... it had been uncertain whether she would recover at all.

And yet here she was, just fine, almost as though it had never happened.

"Mommy... I think I'm going to go on a Pokemon journey one day," May proudly announced one night at dinner.

"Really? But honey, I thought you didn't like Pokemon," Caroline said, concerned.

"Oh, umm... I want to go on a journey anyway! I like Pokemon better now," May said. It wasn't exactly a lie. After the incident with the Pachirisu in the snow, she was a little less afraid of Pokemon. It was the tiny electric squirrel who had led Norman and Caroline to their rescue, saving their lives. If that Pokemon had helped her, then maybe...

Maybe they weren't all bad.

Maybe she could be a trainer one day, after all.

(Besides, she was super excited to travel all around and see the world! Who in their right mind would pass up a chance like that?)

"Hey... May?"

The brunette looked over at her brother. "Yeah, Max?"

"Can... Can I go on your journey with you? One day, when you go?" Max's eyes were wide with hope.

May broke into a smile.

"Sure. Sounds fun!"

Max paused, then added hesitantly, "Pinky promise?"

"Okay." May grinned and extended her pinky, linking it together with his. "We'll have the best journey ever!"

Max beamed at her, excitement glowing on his face.

"I can't wait!"

* * *

 **The end. May and Max are my babies.**


End file.
